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Phys.org / Planned 1.7 million satellites 'devastating' for astronomy: Study

The 1.7 million satellites that companies are aiming to launch into Earth's orbit in the coming years will have "devastating consequences for astronomy," new research warned Wednesday.

Jul 4, 2026
Phys.org / Quantum gravity tests may mistake ordinary spacetime for superposition

Everything around us, from atoms and molecules to planets and galaxies, is governed by two extraordinarily successful theories of physics: quantum mechanics and gravity. Quantum mechanics explains the behavior of the microscopic ...

Jul 2, 2026
Phys.org / What makes a star a star? A strange 'in‑between' celestial object is testing astronomers' boundaries

A star called TOI-2155 lies around 1,350 light-years (839 trillion miles) from Earth. It is a little bigger, heavier and hotter than the sun, and it is not particularly interesting or unusual in itself.

Jul 2, 2026
Phys.org / Paleontologists make 'one in a million' discovery of soft tissue preserved in 450-million-year-old fossil

Before the oldest dinosaur, before animals or even plants had expanded onto dry land, ancient relatives of starfish called crinoids, resembling stalked sea flowers, were among the first creatures to flourish in Earth's earliest ...

Jul 6, 2026
Phys.org / Baseline tool could separate alien life signals from geology on ocean worlds

When it comes to the search for life elsewhere in the universe, methane and other chemical compounds are seen as signs of biology because they are often produced by living microbes. However, scientists can be misled because ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Much of Earth's 'space dust' may come from unidentified near-Earth asteroids

Like a shelf in an old house, the Earth collects a lot of dust from its surroundings. This "space dust" is mostly made up of micrometeorites that survive atmospheric entry and provides researchers with a cheap and easy way ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Metallic rutile oxides break the rules of cooling

Physicists have long puzzled over a strange contradiction inside a family of minerals called rutile oxides. These materials all share the same crystal structure—but while some of them, like titanium dioxide, are firmly insulating, ...

Jul 7, 2026
Medical Xpress / Not all birth controls are equal, some are linked to higher risk of brain tumors, study finds

Meningiomas are the most common brain tumors in adults, accounting for 38% to 42% of all primary central nervous system tumors. According to 2021 WHO data, 874 million of the world's 1.9 billion women of reproductive age ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / JWST finds the most distant barred galaxy candidate in the early universe

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified what may be the most distant barred spiral galaxy ever discovered, dating to a time less than 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang. The paper outlining its ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / Greenland meltwater adds to AMOC weakening, but updated model finds no tipping point in sight

The state of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has been a hot topic among climate scientists in recent years. The AMOC is crucial for climate regulation because it pulls warm surface water from the tropics ...

Jul 4, 2026
Phys.org / Why Europe's trees are dying

In Europe, trees are increasingly dying prematurely. A new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) on French forests now shows that it is not only drought but also unusually warm ...

Jul 7, 2026
Phys.org / How approaching sounds can warp your perception of time

Everyone's perception of time is unique. It is a subjective experience shaped by factors such as age, emotions, memory and environmental contexts. And it may also be influenced by background noise, as scientists have demonstrated ...

Jul 7, 2026